Piloting the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche-powered
Riley, Hand's fastest lap was a 2:36.313 (103.436 mph) around the
4.486-mile, 24-turn road course. Light rain on parts of the track,
coupled with a steady 10 mph wind, made conditions difficult during the
15-minute qualifying session. These conditions were a dramatic change
from this morning's practice session, where Hand turned the fastest lap
with a 2:35.768 (103.677 mph) under sunny skies and light winds.

"Qualifying was alright," Hand said. "The track conditions were not the
best. We had a major headwind, which slowed the car down on the front
straightaway. It was kind of weird. But, the car was good enough to
qualify in the top-three. I fought a push [condition] that was coming to
me and I tried to dial it out with the [sway] bars. In the last corner,
on got a little hasty and went wide out on the rumble strips. I lost
about four or five tenths right there. That would have moved us up. I
don't know if it would have been good enough for the pole, but it would
have been close."

"The track conditions were certainly a contributing factor in where we
qualified today," Team Owner Alex Job said. "They [the qualifying
conditions] were a lot different than what we had during this morning's
practice. So, we did not qualify where we thought we would. Quite
frankly, I thought we'd qualify higher. But, it's a long race. It's a
seven hour race. So, where you start is not as critical. We have two of
the best drivers and I think we've got a real shot at winning this
thing."

Hand will co-drive with Bill Auberlen. The duo is still looking to add a
victory to its already solid list of race finishes, which includes two
podiums, three top-five and six top-10 finishes. In the last three races,
the team's average finish is fifth. And speaking of fifth, the Ruby
Tuesday Championship Racing Team finished fifth in this race last year.